Alerting a participant when a topic of interest is being discussed and/or a speaker of interest is speaking during a conference call

ABSTRACT

A method, system and computer program product for alerting a participant when a topic of interest is being discussed and/or a speaker of interest is speaking during a conference call. A participant to a conference call identifies the topics and/or speakers of interest which is stored for future use along with the participant&#39;s contact information. When a participant&#39;s identified topic of interest is being discussed and/or a participant&#39;s identified speaker of interest is speaking during a conference call, the participant will be alerted to that fact, such as via the means specified in the participant&#39;s contact information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation application of pending U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/044,945, which was filed on Mar. 8, 2008,which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The presentapplication claims priority benefits to U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/044,945.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to teleconference systems, and moreparticularly to alerting a participant when a topic of interest is beingdiscussed and/or a speaker of interest is speaking during a conferencecall.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Teleconference systems, or simply “conference call systems,” bringmultiple parties together from remote locations. Ideally, teleconferencesystems allow participants to communicate with each other as if theywere seated in the same room. A teleconference system includes at leasttwo stations (e.g., mobile telephone, landline telephone) set up inremote rooms or locations interconnected by a transmission system, suchas a global network or a telephone system.

Participants at each of the stations communicate with each other throughaudio equipment. Audio equipment for each station typically includes oneor more microphones, speakers, and the like.

People are busier than ever today and oftentimes do not have time toattend the entire conference call. Due to lack of time, people may onlybe interested in attending a portion of the conference call when aparticular topic is discussed or when a particular speaker is speakingHowever, there is currently no means for alerting a participant when atopic of interest is being discussed or when a speaker of interest isspeaking.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for alerting aparticipant when a topic of interest is being discussed and/or a speakerof interest is speaking during a conference call, the method comprisesreceiving a list of planned topics and/or speakers for a conferencecall. The method further comprises joining a participant to theconference call. Further, the method comprises providing an agenda tothe participant to select topics and/or speakers of interest.Additionally, the method comprises requesting the participant toidentify any topics and/or speakers of interest from the agenda. Inaddition, the method comprises obtaining the participant's indicatedtopics and/or speakers of interest. Further, the method comprisesalerting, by a controller, the participant when one of the participant'sindicated topics and/or speakers of interest is being discussed and/orspoken during the conference call.

Other forms of the embodiment of the method described above are in asystem and in a computer program product.

The foregoing has outlined rather generally the features and technicaladvantages of one or more embodiments of the present invention in orderthat the detailed description of the present invention that follows maybe better understood. Additional features and advantages of the presentinvention will be described hereinafter which may form the subject ofthe claims of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained when thefollowing detailed description is considered in conjunction with thefollowing drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a teleconference system in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for joining participants to aconference call and obtaining information from the joined participantsin connection with topics and/or speakers of interest in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for alerting a participant when atopic of interest is being discussed and/or a speaker of interest isspeaking during a conference call in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an alternative method for alerting aparticipant when a topic of interest is being discussed and/or a speakerof interest is speaking during a conference call in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention comprises a method, system and computer programproduct for alerting a participant when a topic of interest is beingdiscussed and/or a speaker of interest is speaking during a conferencecall. In one embodiment of the present invention, a participant to aconference call identifies the topics and/or speakers of interest whichis stored for future use along with the participant's contactinformation. When a participant's identified topic of interest is beingdiscussed and/or a participant's identified speaker of interest isspeaking during a conference call, the participant will be alerted tothat fact, such as via the means specified in the participant's contactinformation.

While the following discusses the present invention in connection withimplementing a conference bridge, the principles of the presentinvention may be implemented in connection with live streaming orbroadcasting over a computer network without the requirement of aconference bridge. A person of ordinary skill in the art would becapable of applying the principles of the present invention to suchimplementations. Further, embodiments applying the principles of thepresent invention to such implementations would fall within the scope ofthe present invention.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth toprovide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, itwill be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present inventionmay be practiced without such specific details. In other instances,well-known circuits have been shown in block diagram form in order notto obscure the present invention in unnecessary detail. For the mostpart, details considering timing considerations and the like have beenomitted inasmuch as such details are not necessary to obtain a completeunderstanding of the present invention and are within the skills ofpersons of ordinary skill in the relevant art.

FIG. 1—Teleconference System

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention of ateleconference system 100. Teleconference system 100 may include one ormore Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) 101, one or more mobiletelephones 102, one or more cordless telephones 103 and one or morelandline telephones 104.

PDA 101 and mobile telephone 102 may be connected to a conference bridgesystem 105 via mobile telephone switching centers 106A-B, respectively,and a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 107. Mobile switchingcenters 106A-B may collectively or individually be referred to as mobileswitching centers 106 or mobile switching center 106, respectively.Mobile telephone switching center 106 connects the landline PublicSwitched Telephone Network (PSTN) 107 to the mobile phone system. PSTN107 may be connected to conference bridge system 105.

Similarly, cordless telephone 103 may be connected to a conferencebridge system 105 via a local exchange carrier 108A and PSTN 107. Localexchange carrier 108A enables cordless telephone 103 to gain access toconference bridge system 105 via PSTN 107. Further, landline telephone104 may be connected to a conference bridge system 105 via a localexchange carrier 108B and PSTN 107. Local exchange carrier 108B enableslandline telephone 104 to gain access to conference bridge system 105via PSTN 107. Local exchange carriers 108A-B may collectively orindividually be referred to as local exchange carriers 108 or localexchange carrier 108, respectively.

As stated above, teleconference system 100 may include a conferencebridge system 105. Conference bridge system 105 may include a conferencebridge 109 configured to connect callers of PDAs 101, mobile telephones102, cordless telephones 103 and landline telephones 104 together, suchas on a conference call. Further, conference bridge 109 may beconfigured to monitor the conference call session as well aselectronically balance the lines so that each caller can hear and speakto all the other callers no matter how many people hop on or off thecall.

Conference bridge system 105 may further include noise detectors 110A-Dconfigured to monitor and detect noise on the telephone lines 111A-D forPDA 101, mobile telephone 102, cordless telephone 103 and landlinetelephone 104, respectively. For example, noise detector 110A maymonitor and detect noise on telephone line 111A for PDA 101. Noisedetector 110B may monitor and detect noise on telephone line 111B formobile telephone 102. Noise detector 110C may monitor and detect noiseon telephone line 111 C for cordless telephone 103. Further, noisedetector 110D may monitor and detect noise on telephone line 111D forlandline telephone 104. Noise detectors 110A-D may collectively orindividually be referred to as noise detectors 110 or noise detector110, respectively. Further, telephone lines 111A-D may collectively orindividually be referred to as telephone lines 111 or telephone line111, respectively.

Additionally, conference bridge system 105 may include a controller 112coupled to conference bridge 109 and to noise detectors 110. Controller112 is configured to alert a participant when a topic of interest isbeing discussed and/or a speaker is speaking during a conference call asdiscussed herein. Controller 112 may include a processor 113 coupled toa memory 114. Processor 113 may be configured to execute theinstructions of the program stored in memory 114. In one embodiment, theprogram for alerting a participant when a topic of interest is beingdiscussed and/or a speaker is speaking during a conference call, asdiscussed further below in connection with FIGS. 2-4, may reside inmemory 114. In one embodiment, memory 114 may include a program forvoice recognition so that the voice of a speaker of interest can beidentified.

In addition, conference bridge system 105 may include a database 115configured to store participant's contact information as well as theparticipant's identified topics and/or speakers of interest, asdiscussed further below in connection with FIGS. 2-4. In one embodiment,database 115 stores the participant's contact information as well as theparticipant's identified topics and/or speakers of interest in a profilefor that participant. In one embodiment, database 115 may further storevoice patterns of speakers which are used by controller 112 to determineif the voice detected by noise detector 110 matches one of the storedvoice patterns as discussed further below in connection with FIG. 4.

Teleconference system 100 may further include a data processing system116, which runs suitable web browser software, connected to controller112 via a computer network 117 (e.g., Local Area Network (LAN), such asEthernet, Token Ring, ARCnet, or a Wide Area Network (WAN), such as theInternet).

Teleconference system 100 may further include a mobile device, whichruns suitable web browser software, such as PDA 101 or mobile telephone102, which is connected to a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) gateway118 via a wireless telephone network 119. WAP gateway 111 provides a setof communication protocols enabling wireless devices, such as PDA 101,mobile telephone 102, to access computer network 117.

Teleconference system 100 may include any number of PDAs 101, mobiletelephones 102, cordless telephones 103 and landline telephones 104.Further, teleconference system 100 may include any number of mobiledevices (e.g., personal digital assistant 101, mobile telephone 102)with the capability of connecting to computer network 117. Additionally,teleconference system 100 may include any number of data processingsystems 116. FIG. 1 is illustrative of an embodiment of teleconferencesystem 100 and FIG. 1 is not to be limited in scope to any oneparticular embodiment.

The various aspects, features, embodiments or implementations of theinvention described herein can be used alone or in various combinations.The methods of the present invention can be implemented by software,hardware or a combination of hardware and software. The presentinvention can also be embodied as computer readable code on a computerreadable medium. The computer readable medium is any data storage devicethat can store data which can thereafter be read by a computer system.Examples of the computer readable medium include read-only memory,random access memory, CD-ROMs, flash memory cards, DVDs, magnetic tape,optical data storage devices, and carrier waves. The computer readablemedium can also be distributed over network-coupled computer systems sothat the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributedfashion.

As discussed in the Background section, people are busier than evertoday and oftentimes do not have time to attend the entire conferencecall. Due to lack of time, people may only be interested in attending aportion of the conference call when a particular topic is discussed orwhen a particular speaker is speaking However, there is currently nomeans for alerting a participant when a topic of interest is beingdiscussed or when a speaker of interest is speaking during a conferencecall.

As discussed blow in connection with FIGS. 2-4, a participant may bealerted when a topic of interest is being discussed or when a speaker ofinterest is speaking during a conference call. In this manner, theparticipant will be able to join the portion of the conference call thatis of interest to the participant while saving time in not having toattend the entire conference call. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method forjoining participants to a conference call and obtaining information fromthe joined participants in connection with topics and/or speakers ofinterest. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for alerting a participantwhen a topic of interest is being discussed and/or a speaker is speakingduring a conference call. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an alternative methodfor alerting a participant when a topic of interest is being discussedand/or a speaker is speaking during a conference call.

FIG. 2—Method for Joining Participants and Obtaining Information fromJoined Participants

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method 200 for joining participants to aconference call and obtaining information from the joined participantsin connection with topics and/or speakers of interest in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, in conjunction with FIG. 1, in step 201, controller112 receives from a participant (e.g., moderator) a list of plannedtopics and/or speakers for a conference call. In one embodiment, theparticipant (e.g., moderator) inputs the topics to be discussed at theconference call as well as the estimated times these topics will bediscussed in a form provided by controller 112. Further, the participant(e.g., moderator) inputs the speakers who will be speaking at theconference call as well as the estimate times these speakers will bespeaking in a form provided by controller 112. In one embodiment, theparticipant (e.g., moderator) transmits the filled-out formelectronically over computer network 117 to controller 112. For example,the participant (e.g., moderator) may transmit the filled-out form fromcomputer 116, PDA 101 or from mobile telephone 102.

In step 202, controller 112 joins a participant (e.g., caller oflandline telephone 104) to a conference call. In step 203, controller112 provides an agenda to the joined participant to select the topicsand/or speakers of interest to the joined participant. In oneembodiment, controller 112 provides the agenda to the joined participantover computer network 117. For example, if the joined participant used amobile device with web browsing software to join the conference call,then the joined participant may receive the agenda on the participant'sPDA 101 or mobile telephone 102. Alternatively, if the joinedparticipant did not use a device with web browsing software to join theconference call, then the joined participant may receive the agenda ondata processing system 116. In one embodiment, the agenda provided bythe joined participant is based on the information (e.g., list ofplanned topics and/or speakers and corresponding times) received fromthe participant (e.g., moderator) in step 201.

In step 204, controller 112 requests the joined participant to identifyany topics of interest and/or speakers of interest from the agenda thatthe joined participant would like to be alerted to when they (topics ofinterest and/or speakers of interest) will be presented during theconference call or during a public conference call. A public conferencecall, as used herein, may refer to any conference call that discussesthe identified topic of interest or that includes the speaker ofinterest. In one embodiment, controller 112 instructs conference bridge109 to generate speech signals requesting the joined participant toidentify any topics and/or speakers of interest from the agenda that thejoined participant would like to be alerted to when they will bepresented during the conference call or during public conference call.Alternatively, controller 112 may send such a request electronicallyover computer network 117.

In step 205, controller 112 determines whether the joined participantindicated any topic and/or speaker of interest. If controller 112indicated a topic and/or speaker of interest, then, in step 206,controller 112 obtains the joined participant's contact information(e.g., phone number, e-mail address) and indicated topics and/orspeakers of interest. In step 207, controller 112 stores the obtainedcontact information and indicated topics and/or speakers of interest. Inone embodiment, controller 112 stores such information in database 115.

If the joined participant did not indicate to be alerted to any topicand/or speaker of interest, then, in step 208, controller 112 determinesif there are other participants to be joined for the conference call. Ifthere are other participants to be joined for the conference call, thencontroller 112 waits to join the next participant to the conference callin step 202.

If all the participants have joined the conference call, then, in step209, controller 112 terminates the conference call set-up.

Method 200 may include other and/or additional steps that, for clarity,are not depicted. Further, method 200 may be executed in a differentorder presented and that the order presented in the discussion of FIG. 2is illustrative. Additionally, certain steps in method 200 may beexecuted in a substantially simultaneous manner or may be omitted.

A discussion of alerting a participant when a topic of interest isdiscussed and/or a speaker of interest is speaking during a conferencecall is provided below in connection with FIG. 3.

FIG. 3—Method for Alerting a Participant when a Topic of Interest isDiscussed and/or a Speaker of Interest is Speaking During a ConferenceCall

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method 300 for alerting a participant when atopic of interest is discussed and/or a speaker of interest is speakingduring a conference call in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 3, in conjunction with FIG. 1, in step 301, controller112 receives indications of the progress of the agenda during theconference call from the participant (e.g., moderator) that provided thelist of planned topics and/or speakers for the conference call in step201 (FIG. 2). For example, the participant (e.g., moderator) thatprovided the list of planned topics and/or speakers for the conferencecall in step 201 (FIG. 2) may send electronic updates of the status ofthe conference call over computer network 117 to controller 112. Forinstance, the moderator may indicate the current speaker speaking or thecurrent topic being discussed.

In step 302, based on the progress of the agenda received in step 201(FIG. 2), controller 112 determines whether a topic of interestidentified by a joined participant is being discussed or whether aspeaker of interest identified by a joined participant is speakingduring the conference call. In one embodiment, the topics of interestsand/or speakers of interest identified by the participants of theconference call are stored in database 115. These are used by controller112 to determine if a topic of interest is being discussed or if aspeaker of interest is speaking during the conference call based on theprogress of the agenda received in step 201 (FIG. 2).

If there is a topic of interest being discussed or a speaker of interestspeaking during the conference call, then, in step 303, controller 112alerts to the appropriate participant that the topic of interest isbeing discussed and/or a speaker of interest is speaking during theconference call. It is noted that the conference call referred to instep 303 may include both a “public” conference call, where theparticipant has not necessarily joined, as well as the conference callthat the participant has joined.

Controller 112 may alert the appropriate participant in many manners,such as via electronic mail, an electronic instant message, an automatedphone call, a short message service (SMS) message, a page, etc. In oneembodiment, database 115 stores profiles for each participant whichincludes the participant's topics and/or speakers of interest as well asthe participant's contact information. The appropriate participant isalerted since the participant's contact information is associated withthe topics and/or speakers of interest. Further, the appropriateparticipant may be alerted in the manner as provided in theparticipant's contact information.

If, however, there is not a topic of interest being discussed and thereis not a speaker of interest speaking during the conference call, then,controller 112, in step 301, receives the next indication of theprogress of the agenda during the conference call from the participant(e.g., moderator) that provided the list of planned topics and/orspeakers for the conference call in step 201 (FIG. 2).

Method 300 may include other and/or additional steps that, for clarity,are not depicted. Further, method 300 may be executed in a differentorder presented and that the order presented in the discussion of FIG. 3is illustrative. Additionally, certain steps in method 300 may beexecuted in a substantially simultaneous manner or may be omitted.

A discussion of an alternative form of alerting a participant when atopic of interest is discussed and/or a speaker of interest is speakingduring a conference call is provided below in connection with FIG. 4.

FIG. 4—Alternative Method for Alerting a Participant when a Topic ofInterest is Discussed and/or a Speaker of Interest is Speaking During aConference Call

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an alternative method 400 for alerting aparticipant when a topic of interest is discussed and/or a speaker ofinterest is speaking during a conference call in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, in conjunction with FIG. 1, in step 401, noisedetector 110 detects a noise on phone line 111. In step 402, controller112 determines whether the detected noise matches a stored voicepattern. In one embodiment, controller 112 includes voice recognitionsoftware stored in memory 114 for matching the voice detected by noisedetector 110 with a voice profile stored in database 115.

If the voice detected by noise detector 110 does not match a storedvoice profile, then noise detector 110 waits to detect another noise onphone line 111 in step 401.

If, however, the voice detected by noise detector 110 matches a storedvoice profile, then, in step 403, controller 112 determines if thestored voice profile is associated with a speaker of interest. That is,in step 403, controller 112 determines if noise detector 110 detectedthe voice of a speaker of interest. In one embodiment, controller 112may indicate in each profile for each joined participant whether thereexists a stored voice profile for a speaker identified by the joinedparticipant. When controller 112 determines that there is a matchedvoice profile, controller 112 may search through the participants'profiles to determine if any of the participants are interested in beingnotified of the speaker currently speaking

If the stored voice profile is associated with a speaker of interest,then, in step 404, controller alerts the appropriate participant thatthe speaker of interest is speaking during the conference call. It isnoted that the conference call referred to in step 404 may include botha “public” conference call, where the participant has not necessarilyjoined, as well as the conference call that the participant has joined.Controller 112 may alert the appropriate participant in many manners,such as via electronic mail, an electronic instant message, an automatedphone call, a page, etc.

If, however, there is not a speaker of interest speaking during theconference call, then noise detector 110 waits to detect another noiseon phone line 111 in step 401.

Method 400 may include other and/or additional steps that, for clarity,are not depicted. Further, method 400 may be executed in a differentorder presented and that the order presented in the discussion of FIG. 4is illustrative. Additionally, certain steps in method 400 may beexecuted in a substantially simultaneous manner or may be omitted.

Although the method, system and computer program product are describedin connection with several embodiments, it is not intended to be limitedto the specific forms set forth herein, but on the contrary, it isintended to cover such alternatives, modifications and equivalents, ascan be reasonably included within the spirit and scope of the inventionas defined by the appended claims. It is noted that the headings areused only for organizational purposes and not meant to limit the scopeof the description or claims.

1. A method for alerting a participant when a topic of interest is beingdiscussed and/or a speaker of interest is speaking during a conferencecall, the method comprising: receiving a list of planned topics and/orspeakers for a conference call; joining a participant to said conferencecall; providing an agenda to said participant to select topics and/orspeakers of interest; requesting said participant to identify any topicsand/or speakers of interest from said agenda; obtaining saidparticipant's indicated topics and/or speakers of interest; andalerting, by a controller, said participant when one of saidparticipant's indicated topics and/or speakers of interest is beingdiscussed and/or spoken during said conference call.
 2. The method asrecited in claim 1 further comprising: obtaining contact informationfrom said participant.
 3. The method as recited in claim 2 furthercomprising: storing said contact information obtained from saidparticipant; and storing said topics and/or speakers of interestindicated from said participant.
 4. The method as recited in claim 1further comprising: receiving indications of progress of said agendaduring said conference call.
 5. A system, comprising: a memory unit forstoring a computer program for alerting a participant when a topic ofinterest is being discussed and/or a speaker of interest is speakingduring a conference call; and a processor coupled to said memory unit,wherein said processor, responsive to said computer program, comprises:circuitry for receiving a list of planned topics and/or speakers for aconference call; circuitry for joining a participant to said conferencecall; circuitry for providing an agenda to said participant to selecttopics and/or speakers of interest; circuitry for requesting saidparticipant to identify any topics and/or speakers of interest from saidagenda; circuitry for obtaining said participant's indicated topicsand/or speakers of interest; and circuitry for alerting said participantwhen one of said participant's indicated topics and/or speakers ofinterest is being discussed and/or spoken during said conference call.6. The system as recited in claim 5, wherein said processor furthercomprises: circuitry for obtaining contact information from saidparticipant.
 7. The system as recited in claim 6, wherein said processorfurther comprises: circuitry for storing said contact informationobtained from said participant; and circuitry for storing said topicsand/or speakers of interest indicated from said participant.
 8. Thesystem as recited in claim 5, wherein said processor further comprises:circuitry for receiving indications of progress of said agenda duringsaid conference call.
 9. A computer program product embodied in acomputer readable medium, wherein the medium does not include apropagating signal, for alerting a participant when a topic of interestis being discussed and/or a speaker of interest is speaking during aconference call, the computer program product comprising the programminginstructions for: receiving a list of planned topics and/or speakers fora conference call; joining a participant to said conference call;providing an agenda to said participant to select topics and/or speakersof interest; requesting said participant to identify any topics and/orspeakers of interest from said agenda; obtaining said participant'sindicated topics and/or speakers of interest; and alerting saidparticipant when one of said participant's indicated topics and/orspeakers of interest is being discussed and/or spoken during saidconference call.
 10. The computer program product as recited in claim 9further comprising the programming instructions for: obtaining contactinformation from said participant.
 11. The computer program product asrecited in claim 10 further comprising the programming instructions for:storing said contact information obtained from said participant; andstoring said topics and/or speakers of interest indicated from saidparticipant.
 12. The computer program product as recited in claim 9further comprising the programming instructions for: receivingindications of progress of said agenda during said conference call.